DUCK AND MINTED GREEN PEA STEW
SOURCE: COLMAN ANDREWS. THE BRITISH TABLE: A NEW LOOK AT THE TRADITIONAL COOKING OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND WALES.
When game birds return to their breeding areas every spring and garden legumes mature fully for reaping every the summer, a stew of duck and sweet peas would seasonally trend the dining tables of Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their inseparable partnership even rivalled “Beef Roast and Yorkshire Pudding”, and “Bacon and Baked Beans” for the dynamic duo title because of its regular references in Victorian art and literature according to the 1908 Francis Miltoun book, Dickens’ London. Maria Moss dedicated a four-stanza entry on its procedural cooking in A Poetical Cook-Book, guaranteeing contentment of the reader and another invitation from the speaker. Pall Mall Gazette food correspondent and middle-class dining ambassador, Nathaniel Newnham-Davis, chronicles the Barony of Dudley inducting the dish a membership into the typical British dinner “fit for an emperor” in the opening chapter of The Gourmet’s Guide to London . Aside from its delicious taste, the duck and peas merger produces a beautiful contrast of colors; the once-fashionable classic truly deserves a renaissance.
Ingredients
1 whole duck, weighing 5 to 6 pounds/2.3 to 2.7 kg and cut into 4 large serving pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons/45 grams unsalted butter
4 shallots, peeled and cut into quarters
3 ounces/85 grams thick-cut OR picnic bacon, cut into 0.5-inch/1.27-cm cubes
2 cups/500 mL beef stock, preferably homemade
6 to 8 leaves Romaine lettuce, julienned
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
3 to 4 sprigs flat-leaf OR Italian parsley, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results, finely chopped
2 cups/700 grams shelled fresh OR frozen peas
6 to 8 sprigs mint, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results, cut into chiffonade
Specific Equipment
Fork
Large nonreactive glass bowl
Dutch oven OR large skillet equipped with a lid
Spoon
Fine-mesh strainer
Serves 4
Instructions
1. Prick the duck skin all over with a fork. Season both sides of all duck pieces generously with salt and black pepper. Set aside in a large nonreactive glass bowl to marinate for 3 hours or refrigerate overnight.
2. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat. Sauté in the duck pieces, skin-side down for 6 to 8 minutes or until the skin has turned light brown and duck fat has rendered out. Remove the duck pieces and set aside. Spoon out the fat and butter to reserve them for another use.
3. Sauté the shallots and bacon in a Dutch oven or skillet over high heat, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes or until the shallots have softened and turned translucent. Pour in the beef stock and bring to a boil.
4. Return the duck pieces to the Dutch oven or skillet and reduce to moderate heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until the duck pieces are cooked through.
5. Remove the duck pieces from the Dutch oven or skillet and set aside on a serving platter and keep warm.
6. Stir the lettuce, scallions, and parsley into the broth and cook over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until the broth has reduced slightly. Stir in the peas and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the peas are done and the leaves have wilted.
7. Spoon out the peas over a fine-mesh strainer above the Dutch oven or skillet to recollect the broth. Boil for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the broth has reduced slightly. Return the peas into the Dutch oven or skillet and stir in the mint.
8. Remove the Dutch oven or skillet from heat and spoon the peas and some of the broth around and under the duck pieces. Drizzle any remaining broth over the duck.
